Physical area · New Zealand
Gimblett Gravels
A 800-hectare patch of old riverbed in Hawke’s Bay, defined by a soil map rather than by law, and New Zealand’s best site for Bordeaux varieties and Syrah.
Bordeaux blends with cassis, plum and firm ripe tannin; Syrah that is medium-bodied, peppery and violet-scented. Fresher than Australian equivalents.
About Gimblett Gravels
The Gimblett Gravels are an area of deep stony riverbed exposed when the Ngaruroro River changed course after a flood in 1867. The land was considered worthless for farming and was used for shingle extraction.
Its boundary is unusual and worth being precise about: it is not a legal appellation. It is defined by a soil map, and the name is a trademark administered by a growers’ association whose members must have vineyards on the specified gravel. That is a private arrangement, not a geographical indication.
The stones raise the effective temperature enough to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, which struggles elsewhere in New Zealand, and the area is the country’s reference for Bordeaux blends and for Syrah.
It is a good illustration that a meaningful boundary need not be a legal one — and that a reader should not assume the two are the same thing.
No authority delimits this name or attaches rules to it. A landform, valley or informal grouping with no legal standing. Real, useful, and not something an authority has delimited. That does not make it less real or less useful — it means nothing legal follows from it, and you will not generally find it on a label as a controlled designation.
Grapes
Wines from here
Soil and geology
- Underlying geology
- Greywacke gravel deposited by the Ngaruroro River, exposed when it changed course in 1867
- Soils
- Deep, stony, free-draining gravel with very little fine material
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Water holding
- Low
- Heat retention
- High
What it does to the vine. The stones absorb heat and radiate it back overnight, raising the effective growing-season temperature above the surrounding land. Combined with near-total drainage, that is what ripens Cabernet Sauvignon in a region otherwise marginal for it.
WineHQ describes soil in terms of what it demonstrably does — drainage, heat retention, water supply, rooting depth — and not in terms of flavours it is said to transmit. Vines take up ions, not aromas, and no mechanism has been demonstrated by which a mineral in the ground is tasted in the glass. See soil and drainage.
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux blend
Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).
Try with roast chicken, fillet steak or grilled chicken.
Hawke’s Bay Syrah
Serve at 15–17°C (cellar cool).
Try with steak au poivre, roast chicken or fillet steak.
Where to go next
Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.
- Hawke’s Bay — New Zealand’s warmest major region, and its best source of Bordeaux varieties and Syrah.
- Martinborough — A small North Island region in Wairarapa, producing structured, savoury Pinot Noir.
Approximate centroid: -39.60°, 176.75°. WineHQ stores coordinates only where it has them, and does not estimate boundaries it has not sourced.
Sources
Sources consulted
- New Zealand Winegrowers annual report — New Zealand Winegrowers
- Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers — Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Association